Review: Et Tu Brucé – Suburban Sunshine

As much as Britpop will forever be associated with the mid 1990’s, so much of the music was informed by artists from thirty years before. To that extent, London’s Et Tu Brucé could be a Britpop act themselves and – in the nascent stages of their career – have already been compared to old favourites The Kinks and The Beach Boys .

The folky and harmony laden ‘Memories Remain’ represents a very a British side to their nostalgic sound, whereas the recent single ‘This City’ is breezy, upbeat and has a refreshingly authentic West Coast feel. The latter approach tends to be prevail yet there are actually more interesting songs on offer once the centre of the record is reached.

The vocal hooks for ‘Miracle Crash’ are strong enough to carry the melody on their own but they also add some insanely catchy jangly guitars to complete the job. This track is followed by ‘Never Say Trevor Again’ which is short, simple, addictive and cleverly meanders and twists on itself. Then the final highlight is a relentlessly chugging ‘I Keep Forgetting’.

There’s little on ‘Suburban Sunshine’ that hasn’t done before but it sounds like a complete album with barely a weak track to be found. It would be a bit strong to call them the natural successors to The La’s but they’re certainly on the right track.